In early December, I made my first trip to NASA's Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center (JSC) in Houston, and the Space Center Houston visitor center. JSC is NASA's manned spacecraft center, where astronaut training, research, and ground control are conducted. It is a huge complex, comprising 100 buildings and employing 3,200 workers, including more than 100 astronauts.

It has served as mission control for the Gemini, Apollo, Skylab, Apollo–Soyuz, and Space Shuttle missions, and also handles ground control for the American portion of the International Space Station.

I was there as a guest of 20th Century Fox, at an event highlighting NASA's advisory role in its film The Martian, now out on digital download and soon to be released on DVD. Although the film—as was the book it was based on—was impressive in its realism in many respects, I was a little disappointed (though not surprised) that the real JSC bore little architectural resemblance to the futuristically designed complex envisioned by director Ridley Scott and The Martian's creators. (As the movie takes place in the 2030s, NASA still has 20 years to get it right.)

That said, there's more than enough space history and future technology to satisfy even the most avid astro-geek. A lot of historic spacecraft are on display at Space Center Houston, JSC's official visitor center, a Smithsonian-affiliated museum that is independently run and operated as a nonprofit. Space Center Houston offers tram tours of some JSC attractions. Recent spacecraft, robots, and modules can be seen in tours of the Space Vehicle Mockup Facility (JSC Building 9), and other attractions can be seen elsewhere in the JSC complex. The Neutral Buoyancy Lab, the large pool in which the astronauts train for missions, is about 5 miles from the rest of JSC but is accessible on some tours.

The only sight covered here that you almost certainly won't see on a public tour is the Mars Yard, which we were taken to because of its connection to The Martian. (Mark Watney's rover in the movie bears a resemblance to the Space Exploration Vehicle (SEV) we rode in, which is not surprising because Ridley Scott and the movie's creators consulted extensively with NASA about the scientific aspects of the movie).

The Johnson Space Center and Space Center Houston are well worth seeing if you are in the area, or making a pilgrimage to if you're an avid space geek. There are a lot of cool things to see there, and these are our favorites.

1
Rocket Park

The Rocket Park is a must-see. The two rockets pointing skyward—a Mercury Redstone and an Apollo capsule on a Little Joe II booster—are impressive enough. The real treasure, however, is in the long shed or hangar next to them: a Saturn V, the rocket that launched the Apollo missions to the Moon. Of the three surviving Saturn Vs, it is the most complete, with the most stages, plus its Apollo capsule (Command Module) and escape tower. (NASA image)

2
Neutral Buoyancy Lab

The Neutral Buoyancy Lab (NBL) at the Sonny Carter Training Facility, located about 5 miles north of the Johnson Space Center, is a large indoor pool that astronauts use to train for space missions. They wear dive suits in which their weight essentially equals that of water, to mimic weightlessness. In the water are full-scale mockups of International Space Station (ISS) modules, the SpaceX Dragon capsule, and other currently used space vehicles, on which astronauts can simulate repairs during mock spacewalks. The NASA photo shows astronauts training in 2008 for a repair mission to the Hubble Space Telescope. The NBL can be visited on tours from Space Center Houston. (NASA image)

3
Independence Plaza

Independence Plaza hasn't opened yet (its official debut is January 23, 2016), but it's already one of the most impressive sights at Space Center Houston. Its centerpiece is Independence—a full-scale, high-fidelity Space Shuttle replica—piggybacked on top of NASA-905, one of two Shuttle Carrier Aircraft (SCA). It is a modified Boeing 747 that was used to ferry the Shuttles across country if they landed in California, and bring them to their final homes after they were retired. At Independence Plaza, visitors will be able to enter and explore Independence, take a tour of NASA-905, and visit other exhibits related to the Shuttle era. (Space Center Houston illustration)

4
Space Capsules

Several historic space capsules are on display at the Space Center Houston visitor site. They include the Faith 7 Mercury capsule flown by Gordon Cooper; Gemini 5, flown by Gordo Cooper and Pete Conrad; and the Apollo 17 Command Module, nicknamed America, flown to the Moon and back by Gene Cernan, Ronald Evans, and Harrison Schmitt. In addition, NASA's latest-generation space capsule, Orion, is on display at Space Center Houston. A second Orion capsule (seen in the photo) is in the Space Vehicle Mockup Facility in Building 9. It offers interior views for those fortunate enough to visit on the building floor.

5
Lunar Module

Suspended from the ceiling in Space Center Houston, gleaming with gold, copper, and silver trim, is a Lunar Module. This particular craft, LTA-8, served as a test unit for astronaut training. It was in spacecraft of the same design that 6 crews of astronauts descended to the surface of the Moon. Their Lunar Modules acted as their base while on the Moon, and returned them to lunar orbit when their stay was over, leaving just the descent stage behind. The Apollo 13 Lunar Module acted as a lifeboat after that flight's Service Module was badly damaged, helping the crew to stay alive long enough to effect a safe return to Earth.

6
Robonauts

NASA's Robonaut humanoid robots, including the one currently serving aboard the International Space Station, are designed and built at the Johnson Space Center. A good place to see Robonauts is at the Space Vehicle Mockup Facility in Building 9. Basic tours let you see the inside of the building from above, on an enclosed catwalk, while higher-end tours may take you across the building floor for a close-up look at Robonauts and other wonders. Seen here is the original Robonaut 1, co-developed by NASA and DARPA, a wheeled vehicle with a humanoid torso, arms, and head, and a second-generation Robonaut in the background.

7
Mars Yard

One place that it's unlikely you will on a tour is the Mars Yard, the site at JSC where NASA tests its Space Exploration Vehicles (SEVs), manned rovers that astronauts may someday drive across the surface of Mars or other worlds. The Mars Yard is a human-sculpted landscape with a steep hill and rugged terrain, including a field strewn with large rocks, designed to test the SEVs' mettle. When we visited the Mars Yard, an SEV was waiting there, and we even got to ride in it.

8
Astronauts

Every Friday, Space Center Houston offers its Lunch with an Astronaut experience: and astronauts occasionally make special public appearances at JSC. Otherwise, although you may encounter astronauts on your tour, as many of them work or train at JSC, they may be hard to identify. You probably won't recognize them unless you know them by sight (or are with someone who can point them out to you). They are much more likely to be wearing business or casual clothing than the blue flight suits they often don when giving public presentations. Visitors who take the Level 9 tour eat in a NASA cafeteria used by astronauts, among other employees. In the photo, I am pictured with Leland Melvin(l), who flew twice aboard the Space Shuttle Atlantis, and Drew Feustel (r), who flew two Shuttle flights, including the final servicing mission to the Hubble Space Telescope.

9
Mural: The Next Giant Leap

Painted on a curved wall outside the Teague Auditorium in Building 2, the former site of JSC's visitor center, is a large mural titled "Opening the Space Frontier - the Next Giant Leap." It was painted in 1979 by a noted space artist, the late Robert McCall. This colorful and idealistic mural shows a rocket being launched, while several Space Shuttles fly near what appears to be a space telescope. At the center, several astronauts stand in the exhaust from the rocket launch, though it seems like they are walking in the clouds. The closest one carries a large American flag. At lower left, workers at Mission Control watch the rocket launch. To the right of the astronauts, scientists are at work, with microscopes and the like. Not only is the mural worth seeing in its own right, there are other interesting exhibits within sight of it in the Building 2 lobby. Suspended from the ceiling is the only surviving Lunar Landing Training Vehicle used by Apollo-era astronauts. On the floor is a case holding a piece of a Martian meteorite, which visitors can touch when the case is unlocked. The exhibits change from time to time.

10
Mission Control

"Houston, we've had a problem here." Those fateful (and often misquoted) words were received at Mission Control at JSC on April 13, 1970, setting in motion the monumental (and ultimately successful) effort to rescue the crippled Apollo 13 spacecraft and its crew. Mission control, officially the Christopher C. Kraft Jr. Mission Control Center, handles the communications, maintenance, and monitoring of US manned space launches and related missions, taking over from Cape Canaveral as soon as the rocket clears the launch tower. There are actually several Mission Control rooms at JSC. The preserved Apollo-era Mission Control is a common stop on tours, as is the Mission Control that handles communication with the International Space Station (ISS). We watched an ultimately scrubbed attempt to launch the Cygnus ISS resupply mission from the White Control Room, a Mission Control facility that's manned by trainees (seen in this photo), and passed yet another Mission Control room as we exited.

About the Author

As Analyst for printers, scanners, and projectors, Tony Hoffman tests and reviews these products and provides news coverage for these categories. Tony has worked at PC Magazine since 2004, first as a Staff Editor, then as Reviews Editor, and more recently as Managing Editor for the printers, scanners, and projectors team.
In addition to editing, T... See Full Bio

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